A timeline of what transpired at Confederate monument Silent Sam on Monday night
Protestors gather around Silent Sam on Aug. 20, 2018, hours before the statue was toppled.
On Monday night, demonstrators pulled down Confederate monument Silent Sam, a statue that had stood on UNC Chapel Hill's campus for more than 100 years.
7 p.m.
The protest began at the Peace and Justice Plaza, which included around 250 students, faculty and community members.
Protestors hold banners at Peace and Justice Plaza on Franklin St.
Between 7 and 9 p.m.
As the protest went on, tensions rose, and demonstrators moved from the courthouse to the Confederate monument at McCorkle Place at approximately 7:45 p.m. Silent Sam was completely covered in banners by approximately 8 p.m.
9:30 p.m.
Silent Sam was surrounded by banners and a ring of demonstrators. At some point during the protest, demonstrators wrapped ropes around the monument. According to witnesses, the monument fell within ten seconds.
Between 9:30 and 10 p.m.
Demonstrators began chanting and burying the statue in dirt. Police presence lightened. Shortly after, police surrounded the statue and told demonstrators to back away.
Police set up a barricade around the pedestal and statue. They told our reporters that they would not be moving the statue that night. At this time, Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement, where he said that though he understood demonstrators' frustrations, "violent destruction of public property will not be tolerated."
Around midnight
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A frontloader truck arrived to McCorkle Place to pick up and move the statue. The statue was put on a UNC Maintenance truck, and the driver told our reporter that they did not know where they were taking the statue. Silent Sam was removed from McCorkle Place. The Daily Tar Heel contacted UNC Facilities and Maintenance and the UNC Media Relations line but received no response on the statue's current location.
Chancellor Carol Folt, UNC Board of Governors Chairperson Harry Smith, UNC-system President Margaret Spellings and Board of Trustees Chairperson Haywood Cochrane released an updated statement, saying that they would be working with the State Bureau of Investigation as local police investigate the protest.
Taylor Buck, Kate Karstens, Myah Ward and Charlie McGee contributed reporting.
Chancellor Carol Folt and other UNC-system officials released an updated statement on Tuesday, where they stated the State Bureau of Investigation will be assisting in the investigation of the protest. Read more here.
